Not Thy Righteousness, But Their Wickedness #4

Monday, April 13, 2026

“Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Deuteronomy 9:5 KJV).

May we have the proper perspective of wickedness versus righteousness….

Re-read today’s Scripture, noting the reference to “the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Go all the way back to Genesis chapter 15, the LORD God deeding the Promised Land to Abraham centuries before Moses: “[13] And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; [14] And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. [15] And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. [16] But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”

Essentially, the LORD God informed Abraham, “One day, long after your death, your people will go away from this land of Canaan and I will bring them back here. Until then, I will keep tolerating the sins of the Gentiles in this land [the ‘wickedness of these nations’ of today’s Scripture!]. When judgment can no longer be withheld, those Gentiles will be violently evicted and destroyed as Israel comes in to occupy their land.” Approximately four centuries after this conversation with Abraham, the LORD commissioned Moses to lead the nation Israel out from Egyptian slavery and into the Promised Land. Of course, Israel did not immediately settle the land under Moses because of their unbelief… and, so, another 40 years passed, which brings us up to Deuteronomy (today’s Scripture).

Moses wanted to make sure his people knew the nature of their entrance into Canaan. Like the Gentiles, the Israelites were equally sinners, but God had made promises to the Israelites out of His goodness….